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Toyota · NHTSA safety record

2017 Toyota Prius Prime

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

32

Complaints

5

Crashes

0

Fires

3

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime have filed 32 safety complaints with NHTSA between March 2017 and June 2026. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 7 of them (22%). The typical failure was reported at 8,150 miles, the median across the 10 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

No recall campaign was matched to this year, make and model. That is not the same as a clean vehicle: recalls are issued against production ranges, and the only reliable check is your own VIN.

Defect investigations (1)

An investigation means NHTSA has decided a pattern is worth examining. A preliminary evaluation is often closed with no action; an engineering analysis is the stage that usually precedes a recall.

Pedestrian alert sounds

DP22005

Closed defect petition · opened January 27, 2023 · closed August 7, 2023 · led to recall 22V063000

the electrical system

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 32.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 22%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 6 19%
ENGINE 4 13%
POWER TRAIN 4 13%
SERVICE BRAKES 4 13%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 3 9%
AIR BAGS 2 6%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 6%
STEERING 2 6%
TIRES 2 6%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 6%
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 3%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2017 at 7.

2017 2026
2017 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed · 70,000 miles

JUST FIVE MINUTES AFTER I LEFT THE HOUSE, I WAS DRIVING AT 15 MILES MPH ON A CURVED ROAD AND THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY LOST POWER. THIS INCLUDES BOTH THE ELECTRIC MOTOR AND THE GAS MOTOR. BOTH THE STEERING SYSTEM AND BRAKES MALFUNCTIONED, CAUSING THE STEERING WHEEL TO BECOME TOO STIFF TO TURN AND THE BRAKES WERE NOT ABLE TO BE PRESSED DOWN NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRIED. THIS CAUSED THE CAR TO SWERVE OFF THE ROAD AND HIT A LIGHT POLE. NOT ONLY DID THE AUTOMATIC COLLISION PREVENTION SYSTEM FAILED TO WORK, THE AIRBAGS ALSO FAILED TO DEPLOY WITH THE AMOUNT OF IMPACT. THIS HAS CAUSED SEVERE DAMAGE TO MY CAR AND SEVERE INJURY TO MY BODY. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME THE VEHICLE

NHTSA complaint 11377239, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SEATS

1 injured · crash

Driver side electric Seat rail malfunction after I was hit from the rear end collision. The seat electric adjustment became inoperable. The seat rail has a small gear in the electric seat that got destroyed during the rear end collision. Is the seat designed for damping, if so why does the driver side electric seat become inoperable?

NHTSA complaint 11530056. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

1 injured · crash

The contact owned a 2017 Toyota Prius Prime. The contact stated after the vehicle was in the park position and exiting, the vehicle accelerated on its own in reverse. The contact mentioned when she parked, the front tires pointed towards a curb which allowed her to get inside the vehicle and to depress the brake pedal. The vehicle continued accelerating, crashed into two trees on the front driver's side and front passenger side, jumped the curve, and crashed into a fence where the vehicle came to a stop. The contact mentioned that she was a professional driver for a living and assured that the failure was not a user error. A police report was not filed due to the incident occurring on her

NHTSA complaint 11580732, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

crash · towed

I had to avoid an oncoming driver who lost control in a flash storm and ended up colliding with a telephone pole head on going 60mph. No safety devices activated at all, and Toyota refuses to admit it’s a problem.

NHTSA complaint 11529023. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

90,000 miles

The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Prius Prime. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle started. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The contact used a portable diagnostic machine to diagnosed the vehicle; however, no fault codes displayed. The contact stated that the failure had not reoccurred. The contact referenced an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not associated with a recall related to the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage

NHTSA complaint 11747144, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
In the 2017 Prius Prime when the car switches from Electric power to gas the car frequently fails to allow you to accelerate. It is like you are stuck in neutral on the freeway, taking your foot off of the acceleration pedal and pushing it down doesn't always fix the issue. The accelerator foot pedal can be completely down to the floorboard as you are losing speed. The safety issue is that you are losing speed, and on the freeway and the car doesn't recover losing some control. I have taken the car to the Toyota delearship and when taken in that say it is a software update, but this continues to happen. There is no real notification when this will occur as the battery milage switchover is

NHTSA complaint 11724443, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I have a 2017 Toyota Prius Prime advanced. It has the large infotaiment screen that is where I have to access many items. Often, seemingly randomly, the screen shuts down and reboots itself. During the time it is rebooting I do not have any access to the controls. It gives no warning when it is going to reboot. I have seen other Toyota recalls for a similar problem on the RAV4 vehicles and I wonder if it is related.

NHTSA complaint 11705045. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The dealer sold original Toyota Truestart H4, 12 Volt battery failed after 2 years and 9 months. The battery is warranted for 84 months/7 years.

NHTSA complaint 11697127. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
Toyota has a very well known issue with head gasket failures right around 140k miles that they refuse to address. This is my second Prius and my second failure right at 140k miles. They refuse to acknowledge it, but the advisors in the service department say that's their "bread and butter." They repair bad head gaskets on priuses for $5k all day long. Toyota needs to do right by their clients.

NHTSA complaint 11667467. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY
Background Toyota has received reports of paint peeling on certain vehicles with the original factory-applied Blizzard Pearl or Super White paint colors. These reports indicate that vehicles with these specific paint colors, applied during the vehicle manufacturing process, may experience paint peeling on exterior metal body panels. Although the original factory paint is covered by Toyota’s New Vehicle Limited Warranty for 3 years or 36,000 miles (whichever comes first), we at Toyota care about the customers’ ownership experience. Toyota is providing coverage for repairs related to the condition described above. The following information is provided to inform you and your staff of the

NHTSA complaint 11661243, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Toyota Prius Prime

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2024 11 4 —
2022 8 1 —
2021 10 0 —
2020 16 1 —
2019 8 1 —
2018 15 0 —

Other 2017 Toyota models

RAV4 304 Highlander 262 Tacoma 237 Corolla 177 Sienna 152 Camry 148 Prius 91 Tundra 78

Every Toyota on this site — 272 vehicles, 370 recall campaigns and 3 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst